Readers: Lori, Luke, John, Elisabeth, Tim, Mike.
Music: Elisabeth, John, Luke
I Have Seen the Lord
John …prelude (Elisabeth begins guitar instrumental under….) TIM: Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. MIKE: They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” TIM: “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. MIKE: He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” TIM: Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” MIKE: Jesus said to her, “Mary.” ELISABETH: When the world is full of darkness, and there isn’t any light That’s when I turn to you When the roads have been left unmarked, and I can’t seem to find My way, I turn to you And when silence fills the air, and I’m left with my thoughts I like to talk to you And I like how you can hear me, and I like how you listen To me, when I say to you Jesus shine, Shine your light through me Shine it so all the world can see Let me shine, And let it be bright And let it light my whole life Jesus shine Let me shine So I may light, someone else’s light (ELISABETH: VAMPS UNDER) TIM: She turned toward him and cried out, “Rabboni!” … “Teacher.” LORI: Our family lived a long way from Arenzville and we hadn’t been back to visit for a long time. We had a family car but it would barely make it to Jacksonville where my step-dad worked.
LUKE: I mentioned this to some of my friends at school and I guess they mentioned it to their folks who attended the Methodist church.
LORI: I don’t know where the money came from but now we have a great van and we just got home from visiting our relatives. ELISABETH: When the days seem to get longer, and I’m feeling like I Can’t breath, I look for you And your amazing little miracles, that most don’t even see But me, I know it’s you And when I see somebody, who has been blinded By the world, I turn to you And we have our little talk, and I tell you what I’ve seen And once again I ask you REPEAT CHORUS And if my light, ever starts to flicker Please help it keep glowing bright And if I ever get blinded Please help me find my sight REPEAT CHORUS JOHN: When my wife and I were first contacted by your church to do a Lay Witness Mission, I called this lady named Maxine.
TIM: I talked to her a lot on the phone preparing for the mission and when I talked to other people at your church, they kept saying, “Maxine will take care of that,” and “Maxine’s in charge of that.” I thought…wow…this must be some kind of Super Woman!
JOHN: Then we came for our pre-mission visit. I was shocked. She was tiny. But when the weekend came, I found out they were right. She was a Super Woman. MIKE: Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” TIM: The lady is amazing. You tell Faye Kershaw the title of a song and she’ll tell you the page number and what key it’s in . . . and she’s good at training new ministers as to what songs we can sing and which ones we’d rather avoid. Lots of great people go unnoticed in our church, and Faye the Hymn-picker is one of them.
LORI: This guy from your church stopped by our house and said, “Hey, have you guys ever eaten Burgoo?” We were new to town and hadn’t really even heard of it. I said, “I’ve got some extra!” and he gave us this whole big thing of it. It was great.
LUKE: Music in under…
ELISABETH: He really wanted to go to camp but he didn’t have the money. What he did have was a neighbor and her name was Ann Snodgrass.
LUKE: He didn’t have to say a word. Ann knew. One day she crossed the street to tell him that A) he’d be going to camp this weekend, B) his registration fee had been paid, and C) that’s all there was to it. He was embarrassed but grateful.
ELISABETH: And on the following Saturday night he knelt at the altar at Green Pastures and gave his heart to Christ…. He returned home and witnessed to his brothers and they accepted the Lord.
LUKE: He’s still around. If you want to catch him in action, he’s one of the camp counselors who’s now telling the story of Christ’s resurrection to a whole new generation of campers. LORI: I have seen the Lord…. MIKE: Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. LUKE: Instead of fear, instead of blinded eyes Instead of shame, instead of all my lies Instead of an orphan without a name I hope you see Jesus Instead of anger, instead of unbelief Instead of weakness in the heart of me Instead of a wounded soul that sometimes loses faith I hope you see Jesus I hope you see Jesus I hope you see Jesus Standing in my place Bearing all my shame I hope you see Jesus LUKE: VAMPS UNDER… LORI: When I moved away from Arenzville and my family went in different directions, I found that I had trouble finding a new church. TIM: The problem was, I was alone. You go into a strange church and people are usually friendly, but no one says, “Come sit by us.” LORI: Church after church I sat alone and I just felt…lonely. I’d sit there by myself remembering what would happen when I’d come to Arenzville and as soon as I hit the door I’d hear, “Sit by me..” “Come over here and sit by me.” LUKE: Instead of voices in a faceless crowd Instead of prophets crying out from behind a shroud Instead of fingers pointing out the blame I hope you see Jesus I hope you see love, I hope you see love, I hope you see love Oh my God, when you look on us A broken people who have turned from love Instead of the words we throw and the wars we wage I hope you forgive us I hope you see Jesus I hope you see Jesus I hope you see Jesus Standing in our place Bearing all our shame I hope you see Jesus
ELISABETH: One day I had a large army in Sunday school....we were working through the details of the Easter story on a 4-7 year old level. When we got to the part with the nails, Jax Dion said "you know it wasn't the nails that held him on the cross. It was his love for you and for me". JOHN: Amen, dude! TIM: I remember my first Christmas as a pastor in Arenzville. I was nervous about what I supposed to do because I didn’t know the local traditions. Then Linda Stinson stood up and said, “We’ll be filling Christmas baskets this Saturday.” JOHN: I didn’t know what she was talking about, but everybody else did. TIM: People started giving her checks, the men showed up in huge numbers to do the shopping, the ladies had the bags all ready… JOHN: The church was on automatic pilot. I love that kind of church. I guess I preached the sermons, but we let God run the church. LORI: We were discussing the soldiers making the crown of thorns for Jesus, mocking and laughing at him, and my Sunday School class agreed it hurts to be laughed at. Hallie Mason pipes up about a boy at her school who others make fun of and won’t play with. She said she plays with him at recess and they are becoming good friends. ELISABETH: I have seen the Lord…. LUKE: The fellowship hall was new and we were mighty proud of it, but the youngsters we being a bit hard on the wallpaper. All around the new hall you could already see signs of scuffing. TIM: Young tennis shoes were making their mark. This caused some concern.
LUKE: Mart Burrus carefully tapped his pipe on the corner of his Styrofoam plate and said, “Fellers, those marks are the prettiest decoration in this church. Just send me a bill for the new wallpaper.”
TIM: I have seen the Lord…..
MIKE: Clyde Ginder probably had the longest driveway in the county. ..and it was mostly unprotected from the blowing snow. But who would be one of the first to show up for church, no matter what the weather? Clyde Ginder.
JOHN: He’d plop down beside Ron Kershaw, and although he wasn’t always sure what was said, he was glad he was there.
LORI: I had always wanted to go to on a trip with KB and his groups, but there was no way my family could raise the money.
ELISABETH: We had a bunch of kids, a bunch of bills, and Dad didn’t have much of a job, but we got by.
LORI: I didn’t even have the nerve to ask Mom and Dad. I shared this with some of my friends one day and then these twenty-dollar bills started arriving in the mail.
ELISABETH: They were going to Australia that year and each twenty had a picture of a kangaroo attached to it. I know they came from the Arenzville church and I could tell by the handwriting that they came from different people.
LORI: I went to Australia.
ELISABETH: It wasn’t ‘til almost ten years later that I found the money came mostly from a family who really couldn’t afford it.
ELISABETH: I have seen the Lord. . . .
MIKE: The fourth-grade girl came to church all by herself. Adelle motioned for her to come sit with her and Mart.
LUKE: She did.
MIKE: And Adelle got to worrying about what the church could offer a 4th-grader so she went to Marvin Miller, the pastor.
LUKE: He said, “You get it started and I’ll worry about the rest.”
MIKE: So she asked four of her friends…Gail, Nikki and Leigh Ann. By Christmas there were 33 kids….then the two Trout boys came.
LUKE: Thirty years ago…up to 140 kids a year, five days a week….God’s Kids…Jesus, cookies and fun.
MIKE: Stand out on the streets when the bus lets them out and watch them running toward the church. You’ll agree.. “I have seen the Lord.”
TIM: We all remember Werley. There are some people you just don’t forget.
JOHN: You’d see him out on the roadside trying to thumb a ride to Jacksonville, or down at the County Line asking for money. And of course he was regular in his church attendance . . . not exactly inside the church, but in his seat in Wessler’s yard.
TIM: We’d ask him in, but he was more comfortable out there in case any of us had any cash in our pockets after the offering had been taken up. Mart would often him help out as did many folks.
JOHN: When we went to Martin’s funeral this little guy was sitting in the back row of Grace Methodist…a second-hand suit, his long hair slicked back and his beard trimmed a bit. It was Werley.
TIM: ….Sitting there all alone.
JOHN: He heard the message of salvation that day. Mart finally got him to come inside the church.
TIM: I have seen the Lord . . .
JOHN: This one comes from me. One of the first places I saw the Lord was in my Grandpa Wayne Briggs. He was unselfish, always doing things for others before himself. His family was his priority…. and although it’s not exactly an Easter song, this one was one of his favorites. I want you to sing it with me.
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE…MY ONLY SUNSHINE YOU MAKE ME HAPPY…WHEN SKIES ARE GREY. YOU’LL NEVER KNOW DEAR…HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU. OH, PLEASE DON’T TAKE MY SUNSHINE AWAY.
THE OTHER NIGHT, DEAR, AS I LAY SLEEPING I DREAMED I HELD YOU IN MY ARMS WHEN I AWOKE, DEAR, I WAS MISTAKEN AND I HELD MY HEAD AND I CRIED.
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE…MY ONLY SUNSHINE YOU MAKE ME HAPPY…WHEN SKIES ARE GREY. YOU’LL NEVER KNOW DEAR…HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU. OH, PLEASE DON’T TAKE MY SUNSHINE AWAY.
LORI: I was sitting in the very back row at camp and it was the final altar call. I’d been wanting to go up front and pray all weekend, but I didn’t have the nerve.
MIKE: On that final night Drew Snodgrass was playing the piano and lots of kids were up there asking Christ to be their savior, but I still couldn’t do it.
LORI: Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was kind of dark but when I looked up there was this boy…he looked about 12 feet tall…I could barely even see his face. It was Granger Snodgrass. He looked at me and said, “You wanna go pray?”
MIKE: I did. He prayed with me. I’ll never forget that.
LORI: I have seen the Lord…..
JOHN: I had the flu or something…I don’t remember for sure, but it was something that took me down for several days. The word got out on the prayer chain and the food coming in our front door just wouldn’t stop.
ELISABETH: My youngest son looked at the kitchen table full of pies and cakes and casseroles and said, “This is fun, Mom! You need to get sick again!”
TIM: Charles Elliot knocked on my door and said, “I hear you have a prayer room in your house. I’d like to make a clock to go in it.” In a matter of days a handsome cherry clock hung on my wall.
LUKE: Charles died several years later and on the day of his funeral the clock stopped.. No new set of batteries could bring it back to life, but I kept it hanging there because Charles had made it. Like Charles, I guess it just wore out.
MIKE: Several years later a redheaded boy knocked on my door late at night. He said he was the grandson of Charles and Esther and he wanted to know to how to apply for a job de-tasseling for Burrus. I gave him the phone number and he went back to stay with Esther that night.
TIM: Then in the middle of the night I heard what I thought was water dripping. I checked all the faucets and couldn’t find the leak. …I followed the sound to the back of the house.
MIKE: Charles’s clock had begun ticking all on its own. Even the pendulum was swinging.
JOHN: After college I had to move away from Arenzville for my job and I started looking for churches. I tried nearly everything in my new city but I never really did feel comfortable.
ELISABETH: I thought that maybe God didn’t want me to go to church any more. Then one day it hit me…I was comparing everything to the Arenzville church…which is funny because I wasn’t even a member of the Arenzville church.
JOHN: It’s just something about the people there. Even when the service was sort of dull, all heck would break loose at the meet and greet time and that’s when I really felt Jesus.
ELISABETH: I have seen the Lord . . .
TIM: We’d lost some really good guys off the football team that year and they were really Christian leaders. I was afraid that in my senior year we wouldn’t have that feeling on the team. …but I forgot about Coach Phelps. He was always there and I know he put his faith in Christ.
LORI: A year ago I was telling the Easter story and needed to wrap it up at the crucifixion because we were out of time. I explained that while this was a sad part it wasn't the end of the story and that we'd meet again the following week to hear the exciting ending when a 3-year-old Eve Crawford locked her sky blue eyes with mine and whispered "Its alright, Lori, He comes back." Oh, yes he does, Eve!
LUKE: I have seen the Lord…
JOHN: I received my first care package from the church when I was a freshman at ISU. My roommate saw it and said, “How to I sign up to be a Methodist?”
LORI: And sometimes saints walk among us…
TIM: Wilbur and Willa Mae …
JOHN: Raymond and Mable …
ELISABETH: Lois Hansmeyer…
MIKE: Roland Phyllis . . .
LUKE: Adam and Mae…
(Elisabeth: instrumental in under….)
LORI: Rena…
TIM: Charlie and Cele . . .
MIKE: Ernie and Agnes . . .
TIM: Janette and Mart…
LUKE: Pauline Grant….
ELISABETH: Clyde and Helen…
LORI: Jeanne and Ralph.. .
TIM: Farrell and Marie. . .
LUKE: M.G. and Mildred West. . .
JOHN: Dolly Alice Geiger. . .
LORI: Kate Wood….
TIM: Marie Cooper. . .
LUKE: Grace Ater. . .
JOHN: Doris and Walter Peck…
LORI: Tim Huey . . .
TIM: Gene Farmer . . .
LORI: And this lady who said but a few words and everyone listened…married to Clifford Plunkett, a farm wife, a cook, the maker of Barbie clothes, quilter friend of Agnes Strickler. . .
JOHN: She mowed her yard barefoot…..
TIM: As a child her house had only dirt floors….
MIKE: Bea Plunkett had four children….two of them died as teenagers….
TIM: From former member of our congregation:
JOHN: I was a little hellion in church…could never sit still or shut up. We sat right in front of Bea Plunkett. After the service was over, my mom stood up to apologize to Bea for all the noise. Before she should say word, Bea said…
LORI: “It was like angels singing.”
ELISABETH: A spiritual giant….and if you knew her, you could only say…
TIM: … I have seen the Lord.
(ELISABETH: Music out.) MIKE: Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” ELISABETH: Everything you know that seems so ordinary ... Give it a second glance The lady on the street, the little girl who’s singing ... Give it another chance Look a little deeper, pay attention to the signs And I promise that in time you’ll find That gleam in her eyes, Wasn’t just the light It was Jesus That extra warmth of love In his hug It was Jesus And I watched your light change someone’s life Oh... Jesus The answer to my prayers Was always right there Now I know...Jesus All the times you doubted what he was doing ... This time you know for sure He has angels hidden in the darkness ... And you’ll keep seeing more With every look, every breath, and every smile Keep on listening, and you’ll hear him say “Child,” (Repeat Chorus) Looking back on everything, I know now for sure That I... have seen the Lord TIM: Amen. And now…it’s time for breakfast.
John’s Postlude
Rehearsal: 3 p.m. Saturday, March 30th. Service: 7 a.m. Easter morning